Patents

These are summaries of some relevant patents that I have been able to trace.
They provide perhaps the best guide to the dates and names involved in the development
of cash carriers.

1875US No.165,473. (Filed 1 Feb.1875) David Brown of Lebanon, New Jersey.
"A simple, effective and cheap apparatus for transmission of goods, packages,
money, &c. particularly .. money in stores." Two standards with a wire
between. On this wire rail a carriage is suspended. The movement is effected
by an endless rope. To the top of the standards bells are placed which indicate
the arrival of the carriage.

1881
US No. 239,495. Harris H.Hayden. Store service apparatus. Transfer
of money, parcels etc. between counters and desks of a store ... where it is
not possible to transfer carriers...without interruption.

US No. 243,451. (Filed 14 Feb. 1881) Automatic cash-carrier. William
S. Lamson, of Lowell, in the County of Middlesex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
"Means for lessening the noise of the carriers... means for elevating carriers
to the ways and discharging said carriers." Uses inclined rails, preferably
lined with leather. The cashier's desk is elevated above the stations of the
salesmen. The carrier is a hollow sphere with discs on springs to hold the contents
near the centre.

US No. 248,968. Joseph C.White, N.Y. assignor to the Automatic
Parcel Delivery Company. To facilitate the removal and replacing upon tracks
of cars or carriers used in store-service systems. Includes a "trough
and ball system".

US No. 250,025. Joseph C. White. Store service system which accomplishes
automatically the work now performed in mercantile establishments by messengers
generally known as "cash boys" or "cash girls". Two inclined
ways and carriers. Carriers may be moved by clockwork, travelling belts or otherwise.

1882US No. 255,525.
Joseph C. Martin. Relates to the construction of automatically-moving cash boxes
and devices for moving such boxes, the object being to obviate the employment
of persons carrying cash between the salesman and the cashier in mercantile
establishments. The cash box is made with top, bottom and ends only and has
a drawer adapted to slide through it.

US No. 258,584. (Filed 3 Dec. 1879) William S.Lamson, assignor to the
Lamson Cash Carrier Company of Boston Mass. Automatic cash-carrier. "My
invention relates to oppositely-inclined ways connecting the stations of salesmen
and the cashier's desk in a store, and rolling boxes or hollow spheres moved
on said ways by the force of gravity."

US No. 268,967. George Willett, Englewood, Ill. assignor of one half
to George Middendorf (same address). Cash-railway. The track has depending guides
to direct the carrying-rollers mounted on spring-standards. The elevator has
a spring to start the carrier.

US No. 284,863. William S.Lamson of Lowell, Mass. Relates to the elevators used to raise the cash balls.

1883US No. 273,841. Oscar H.Hewlett and Charles A.Needham of New York. A hollow ball with filling of felt, cotton or other soft material. Balls of different diameters to reach different destinations. Receiving boxes to give an audible signal as balls fall into them. Pivoted bucket to deposit the ball on the track.

US No. 274,000. Richard F. Jones of St. Louis, Missouri assignor of
three-fourths to the Famous Shoe and Clothing Company. "Combined cash and
bundle conveyor".

US No. 278,510. John C. Coram of Lowell, Mass. Drop cradle
and elevator for cash-carriers.

US No. 283,239. H.H. Hayden. Store-service apparatus. One wire is inclined
in one direction and the other in the reverse direction so that the carrier
may travel by gravity.

US No. 283,912. Robert A. McCarty of Port Huron, Mich. and Charles M.Johnson of Peoria, Ill. "Our improvement relates especially to the mode of opening and closing the traps through the track .. and the elevator."

US No. 286,571. Charles B. Allaire and Charles M. Johnson of Peoria, Ill. Improvements relating to a receptacle for the ball, an elevator for raising the ball, guard rails for the track, etc.

US No. 286,592. George B. Coram and John C. Coram of Lowell,
Mass. assignors to the Dennis Cash Carrier Company, same place. Cash and parcel
carrier and track for same.

1884US No. 292,923. (5 Feb.) William S. Lamson of Lowell, Mass. Store-Service
Apparatus. "Consists in automatic switch apparatus whereby any of the carriers..
may be automatically directed from the main track to a branch track." The
switch tilts down to connect to a side track beneath the main track.

US No. 293,012. Osborn B. Hall of Malden, Mass. Use of a tube to carry cash balls (but not using air pressure or vacuum).

US No. 300,223. John C. Coram of Lowell, Mass. assignor to the Dennis
Cash Carrier Company of same place. "Switch for cash railways... It is
my object to provide simple and efficient means for shunting cash-carrier balls
from the main track onto their appropriate branch and side tracks."

US No. 306,474. Joseph Walter Flagg of Worcester, Mass. assignor to
the Flagg Cash Carrier Company of Portland, Maine. "Relates to that class
of cash-carrying systems in which inclined tracks and rolling carriers are used;
and it consists in an improved mode of operating the gate between the intermediate
chambers and the delivery basket..."

US No. 306,790. Calvin L. Walker of Manchester, New Hampshire, assignor
to the Lamson Cash Railway Company, Boston, Mass. "Switch [i.e. point]
for Store-Service... My invention relates to that class of store-service apparatus
in which balls or spherical carriers travel upon ways .. and in which the carriers
are graduated in size and are intended to be deposited at appropriate stations
in accordance with their size."

US No. 308,641. George M. Thompson, Lowell, assignor to the Lamson Cash
Railway Company, Boston, Mass. "The track of a store-service system".

US No. 308732. Charles Baltzell of Altoona, Penn. "The invention consists esentially in causing the cash balls to be carried up to and lowered from the railway by a frame or carriage."

1885

US No. 310,832. William S. Lamson of Lowell, Mass. Elevator
for cash carriers.

US No. 311,897. David Kimball Hall of Chicago, Ill. An automatically-operating elevator to conduct the balls from the elevated track to the cashier when standing upon the floor.

US No. 321,356. Edwin L.Giles of Lowell, Mass. Relates to switches for directing carriers travelling on a track such as shown in patent 258,585 granted to William Lamson on 30 May 1882. "The combination .. of main and supplemental rails, a switch, a pin or other suitable device arranged to be struck by carriers upon the rails .. whereby the switch is moved by and with the pin."

US No. 333,113. Wilbur G. Davis assignor of one half to Wm.
M. Hinman of Boston Mass. Pneumatic cash carrier. "A tube leading from
the salesman's counter or other station to the cashier's desk, adapted to be
engaged with a bellows at either end."

1886

US No. 34,355. Jacob L. Hayward of Framingham, Mass. and Thomas C. Simonton, Jr. of Paterson, N.J. Various improvements to cash railways: reducing the noise, sidings at each station, avoiding openings at stations, breaking the fall of balls, etc.

1887

GB No. 9021. Cash and parcel carrying.
F.N.Jones (Leeds) and the Samson [sic] Store Service Co, 50 State Street, Boston,
U.S.A. "Where spherical carriers are employed and where such carriers have
to fall vertically in a frame, there is a danger of their being broken. To prevent
this the frame is provided with a flexible network tube with a twist in the
middle, or with its diameter reduced at certain points to check the descent
of the carrier."

US No. 359,875. David Lippy of Mansfield, Ohio. Cash-carrier
apparatus. (Figure shows a carriage running along a wire with pulleys and a
cord with a handle.) "A cord or chain ... whereby a pull upon the same
will give motion to the carriage."

US No. 373,172. James Burns. Cash and parcel carrier.

1888

GB No. 18,566.Store service apparatus. The Lamson Store Service Co, 1 Charlotte Street,
Bedford Square, London. "Two rails, A, B, are employed, one for conveying
the carriers to and the other from the cashier's desk. At the latter point the
rails are on a level and a swinging or sliding piece E is provided to receive
the carriers and transfer them from one rail to the other. Where there are more
than one counter or despatching station, switches for the branch lines are provided
and are automatically set by the carrier."

US No. 379,084. Horatio Thomas of Chicago, Ill. and Louis Gardner Bostedo
of Atlantic, Iowa assignors to the Bostedo Package and Cash Carrier Company
of Atlantic, Iowa. Cash and package carrier.

US No. 394,552. Martin Barri of Cambridge Mass. assignor by mesne assignments to the Meteor Despatch Company of Portland, Maine. Pneumatic cash-carrier apparatus. Pneumatic tube with an opening for insertion and removal of a carrier provided with a door or covering and a spring.

1892

GB No. 13,351. Lamson Store Service Co.
Has a diagram of a carriage suspended from wheels running on two wires, one
above the other. They are attached to bars at each end of the run, pivoted in
the middle and with a handle at each end. By pulling the handles the wires can
be separated at one end and brought together at the other, so propelling the
carriage.

US No. 479,417. Emanuel C. Gipe of Freeport Ill. assignor of one half to Oscar J. Ziegler of the same place.

1893

US No. 510,505. Emanuel C. Gipe of Freeport, Ill. assignor to the Standard Store Service Company of the same place. Cash and package carrier.

US No. 528,203. Emanuel C. Gipe of Freeport, Ill. assignor to the Standard Store Service Company of the same place. Package-carrier.

1894

US No. 527,039. Oakes Ames of Canton, Mass. assignor to the Meteor Despatch Company of Portland, Maine and Boston, Mass. Terminal for pneumatic dispatch-tubes. To provide means for retarding.. the carrier prior to its discharge from the pneumatic system at either end (by controlling the direction of the air current).

1896

US No. 559,700. Emanuel C. Gipe and Charles F. Hildreth of Freeport Ill., assignors to the Standard Store Service Company of same place. Cash-carrier.

1898

US No. 609,275. Emanuel C. Gipe of Freeport, Ill. assignor of one fourth to George W. Tassell of Waukesha, Wis. Elevated carrier. "Relates to that class of cash, package, and other elevated carriers in which the car is suspended from an elevated track, such .. as a wire or cable... The object is .. that but a single carrying-wheel may be employed upon the track."

GB No. 12,409. Pneumatic despatch apparatus.
Lamson Pneumatic Tube Co. and R.T. Jenney both of 20 Cheapside, London. "The
mouth of the sending terminal A is closed automatically by a trap door D subject
to a spring E and opening inwards when required on the pressure of the hand."

GB No. 15,354.
Pneumatic despatch apparatus. Lamson
Pneumatic Tube Co. and E.C. Phillips both of 20 Cheapside, London. "The
terminals are U pipes in two parts A,B flanged together... One limb continues
the receiving tube D and the other is connected laterally to the despatching
tube E."

US No. 623,899. Emanuel C. Gipe of Freeport Ill. assignor of three fourths to George W. Tassell of Waukesha, Wis. and Felix J. Griffen of Chicago and Henry L. Glos of Elmhurst, Ill. Cash and package carrier. "Relates to that class of package-carriers in which a suitable basket or receiver is detachably connected with a car adapted to roll upon a suspended wire or rod."

1900

US No. 645,505. Emanuel C. Gipe of Freeport Ill. assignor of three fourths to Felix J. Griffen of same place, George W. Tassell of Waukesha, Wis. and Henry L. Glos of Elmhurst, Ill. Safety-lock for package-carriers.

US No. 660,099. Emanuel C. Gipe of Freeport Ill. assignor of three fourths to Felix J. Griffen of same place, Henry L. Glos of Elmhurst, Ill. and George W. Tassell of Waukesha, Wis. Store-service apparatus. Object is to provide a simple and effectual means for retarding and stopping the carrier at the end of the way as it is sent back and forth thereon.

US No. 660,100. Emanuel C. Gipe of Freeport Ill. assignor of three fourths to Felix J. Griffen of same place, Henry Glos of Elmhurst, Ill. and George W. Tassell of Waukesha, Wis. Store-service apparatus. Means whereby the cord propelling mechanism may be simplified, rendered more certain and positive in action.

1903

GB No. 4356.Coin and small-parcel transferring apparatus.
Lamson Store Service Co. 20 Cheapside, London. "Relates to a system having
a suspended wire track for a carrier on wheels which is propelled from either
end by pulling out a bight from a cord ... The propelling cord G making a central
bight between the forward brackets has its ends attached to a pulley-block H,
which is pulled down to throw out the bight by means of a handle having a universal
joint."

1904

US No. 760,735. Emanuel Gipe of Chicago, Ill. store-service apparatus. One of the objects is to utilise the "spread-wire system" to provide the maximum spread of wires at the transmitting end.

US No. 765,244. Henry Lough of Christchurch, New Zealand.
Apparatus for transmitting cash &c. in stores or like places. "Part
of my invention refers to means for elevating the cash or parcel carrier and
for launching it on the uppermost of a pair of rails that incline in opposite
directions."

1905

GB No. 15,824.
E.C.Phillips, 20 High Holborn, London W.C. Mechanical despatch apparatus. "Relates
to apparatus wherein a carrier is propelled out on a wire track a after
it has been pulled in against a catapult spring by a trigger-carriage h
and a cord j. [This sounds very much like Rapid Wire.]

1907

GB No. 23,501.
W.T.Pugh. Mechanical despatch apparatus. "Relates to a 'cash railway'
of the type in which a car travels along a taut wire, and consists in the construction
of a curve in the travelling way and of a car to be used thereon."

1908

GB No. 17,376.F.J. Cossum,
E.J. Reid, R.N. Reid, J. Reid (trading as Reid Bros.) Mechanical despatch apparatus.
"Trigger-propelled cash-carriers are run on two wires a side by
side and on curves these wires are carried on I shaped supports of the
required curvature."

GB No. 21,923.British Cash
and Parcel Conveyors, Ltd. and H.B. Fenwick, 268 Birkbeck Chambers, Holborn.
Mechanical despatch apparatus of the type in which the carrier is projected
by means of an elastic cord.

GB No. 22,257.E.C.Gipe, 118 Holborn. (Addition to no. 11,778 of 1904).
"arranging the propelling-spreaders provided at both ends of the apparatus
in such a manner that they will, on being released after operation, at once
resume their normal folded position... The tension in the wires is arranged
to give a normally-closed position". [Also includes arrangements to obviate
the clattering of the wires.]

1909

GB No. 2742. E.C.Gipe, 1541
Monadnock Block, Chicago, USA and Gipe Carrier Co., 118 Holborn, London. "To
enable apparatus of the type with double wires to be used in situations where
the wires require to be guided, as at curves."

1911

GB No. 13,627.Lake, W.G., 7 Southampton Buildings, London for the International
Store Service Co., 221 Second Avenue South, Minneapolis, Minn. Mechanical despatch
apparatus. "Apparatus in which a carrier is engaged by a latch on a sliding
carriage."

1912

US No. 1,037,236. Emanuel C. Gipe of Toronto, Ont. store-service apparatus. Relates to that class of store-service apparatus in which a wheeled car is mounted upon a double wire-way and propelled .. as a result of spreading the wires behind it to act against opposing wheels.

1914

US No. 1,084,108. John A. Pitt, assignor to the Lamson
Company (formerly Lamson Consolidated Store Service Company) of Boston Mass.,
a corporation of New Jersey. Conveying apparatus. "Improvements in conveying
apparatus and especially .. for carrying telegrams."

1916

US No. 1,196,352. Emanuel C. Gipe of Chicago Ill. assignor by mesne assignments to the Rowe Ring-Point Company of Hartford, Conn. Store service apparatus. Car is projected in a spread-wire system by elevating the read end of the upper wire.

US No. 1,197,623. Frederick J.H.Hazard of Toronto, Ont. "Means for easing the strains on the wires [in a two-wire system] and to secure a more elastic application of the propulsive power."

US No. 1,176,807. George A. Amsden,
assignor to the Lamson Company of Boston Mass. Cable-carrier apparatus. The
diagram looks very much like the photograph in Byron:
New York Interiors.

US No. 1,176,852. Gary S. Powell of Kansas City, Missouri, assignor to the Lamson Company of Boston Mass., a corporation of New Jersey. Wire-line basket-carrier apparatus.

1918

GB No. 112,824. Edwards,
W.A. Aberford House, Adam Street, May Bank, Stoke-on-Trent. "Apparatus
for conveying cash between a shop counter and a cash desk comprises a single
wire cable along which the cash box runs and which is connected at one end to
a collar slidable on an adjustable guide-rod, and a pull-cord for raising the
collar to alter or reverse the inclination of the cable."

1930

US No. 1,784,776. James L. Baldwin
of Chicago, Ill. "Relates to cash carriers of the types used in department
stores.. and more particularly to the single flight variety of carrier illustrated
in my Patent Number 745,951 dated December 1, 1903 and my main object is to
provide an improved apparatus in which rigidity and alinement [sic] are the
chief factors."

1931

US No. 1,793,895. Baldwin, James
L. of Chicago, Ill. "An apparatus wherein the elevator of the carrier may
be locked in an elevated position." (A wire system able to travel vertically.)

1935

1945

GB No. 573,546.William
Alfred Edwards, Newcastle-under-Lyme. Improvements in and relating to propulsion
devices for cash carrier systems and other mechanical despatch apparatus. "The
object of this invention is to provide an improved propulsion device in which
the trigger .. will be entirely clear of the wire."

1969GB No. 1,163,189.Lamson
Engineering Co Ltd., Willesden. Improvements in or relating to carriers for
pneumatic tube systems. "A carrier with a hinged rotatable end portion
of felt or like material."